Two sentenced to time behind bars in separate robberies

LOCKPORT – Two men who pleaded guilty in separate robberies were imprisoned Tuesday by Niagara County Judge Matthew J. Murphy III.

James A. Connell, 36, of Bellreng Drive, Town of Niagara, drew seven years in prison for stealing about $55 from a clerk at a 7-Eleven store on Hyde Park Boulevard in Niagara Falls June 30. Connell was armed with a knife. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charges of attempted first-degree robbery.

Raco N. Black, 45, of Whitney Avenue, Niagara Falls, was sentenced to a year in the Niagara County Jail for attempted second-degree robbery. Black and Carl R. Adams, 43, of Niagara Street in the Falls, stole $60 from a man near a gas station on 19th Street in that city July 15. Adams pleaded guilty to the same charge as Black and is awaiting sentencing.